Variable height gooseneck

ABSTRACT

A chassis attachable to a fifth wheel of a tractor for hauling a freight container has a variable height gooseneck assembly for accommodating either a standard or a reduced tunnel depth freight container seatable on the chassis. The variable height gooseneck assembly includes a longitudinally extending gooseneck beam and a plate movable to a first position above the longitudinally extending gooseneck beam to support a standard tunnel depth freight container. A plate support element is movably connected to the plate and the longitudinally extending gooseneck beam, the plate support element being configured to move the plate to a second position that allows supported positioning on the gooseneck assembly of a reduced tunnel depth container.

This is a Divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/102,346,filed Aug. 5, 1993 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,398,956.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a novel apparatus and method forsupport of transportable freight containers. More particularly, thepresent invention relates to a variable height chassis gooseneck thatcan be adjusted to accommodate differently sized containers.

Freight containers useful for transport by ship, rail, or overlandtrucking are commonly designed to comply with Marine (I.S.O.) or NorthAmerican Domestic standards. These standards include provision of anarrow tunnel defined in a front bottom portion of a trailer. The depthof the tunnel must be 120 millimeters (423/32 inches) to allow properfit of the tunnel over a narrow "gooseneck" portion of an overlandtrailer chassis. The gooseneck is raised higher than the reminder of thetrailer chassis to permit its attachment by a conventional kingpinlinkage to a fifth wheel of a truck cab. This arrangement permitsreduction of the overall height (as measured from the ground) of thecontainer to legal limits without reduction of inside height of thecontainer.

In recent years, a new type of container commonly known as a "J. B.Hunt" container has become increasingly popular. This type of freightcontainer has a reduced tunnel depth of only 31/8 inches, permittingfurther increase in the inside height and a slightly narrower tunnelwidth permitting even further increase in volume of the freightcontainer relative to standard freight containers. However, if oneplaces these containers on a standard height gooseneck, the ground totop of freight container distance is prohibitively increased. Inpractice, these reduced tunnel depth containers can only be used with aspecially designed trailer chassis having a low profile gooseneck. Sinceensuring availability trailer chassis of differing configurations isinefficient, costly, and difficult, it would be advantageous to have atrailer chassis adjustable to support either standard or J. B. Huntreduced tunnel depth freight containers.

The present invention provides a chassis attachable to a fifth wheel ofa tractor for hauling a freight container, the chassis having a variableheight gooseneck assembly for accommodating either a standard or areduced tunnel depth freight container seatable on the chassis. Thevariable height gooseneck assembly includes a first longitudinallyextending gooseneck beam and a plate movable to a first position abovethe longitudinally extending gooseneck beam to support a standard tunneldepth freight container. A plate support element is movably connected tothe plate and the longitudinally extending gooseneck beam, with theplate support element being configured to move the plate to a secondposition that allows supported positioning on the gooseneck assembly ofa reduced tunnel depth container.

In one preferred embodiment the plate support element is rotatablyconnected at a pivot to the longitudinally extending gooseneck beam topermit manual rotation of the plate from its first position to itssecond position. Conventionally, a gooseneck chassis has twolongitudinally extending gooseneck beams positioned to lie in spacedapart, parallel relationship to each other. The plate support element isrotatably connected at a pivot positioned between these first and secondlongitudinally extending gooseneck beams to permit manual rotation ofthe plate from its first position to its second position. Additionally,if desired, the plate support element can include a supporting plate ofincreased width so that both the height and width is increased.

In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the platesupport element is vertically movable rather than rotationally pivotedbetween first and second positions. Typically, the plate support elementincludes a pneumatic drive mechanism for raising and lowering the plate.In certain embodiments, the pneumatic drive mechanism includes at leastone inflatable tube positioned between the plate and the longitudinallyextending gooseneck beam, with the inflatable tube being substantiallydeflated to bring the plate to its second position to support thereduced tunnel depth container and inflated to bring the plate to itsfirst position to support the standard tunnel depth container.

Additional objects, features and advantages of the present inventionwill be apparent upon consideration of the following detaileddescription and accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side view of a container chassis having a gooseneck suitablefor transport of both standard and reduced tunnel depth containers;

FIG. 2 is a top view of a container chassis such as illustrated in FIG.1, with two gooseneck beams shown, and with one side of the chassisillustratively configured to have three pivotable plate support elementsthat can be swung from a position between the gooseneck beams to aposition atop the gooseneck beam to support a standard tunnel depthcontainer, and with the other side of the chassis illustrativelyconfigured to have a vertically movable plate support element liftableby pneumatic force applied with an inflatable tube;

FIG. 3 is cross sectional view of a gooseneck beam of a chassis such asknown in the prior art, showing a gooseneck beam ideally configured tosupport a reduced tunnel depth container (bold outline) andinappropriately support a standard tunnel depth container (phantomoutline) so that it extends to close to the ground;

FIG. 4 is cross sectional view of a gooseneck beam of a chassis such asknown in the prior art, showing a gooseneck beam ideally configured tosupport a standard tunnel depth container (phantom outline) andinappropriately support a reduced tunnel depth container (bold outline)so that it extends inappropriately far vertically upward;

FIGS. 5 and 6 are cross sectional views of pivotable plate supportelement that can be rotated from a position between the gooseneck beams,where the gooseneck beam can directly support a reduced tunnel depthcontainer, to a position atop the gooseneck beam, where the combinedheight gooseneck beam and plate support element together support astandard tunnel depth container; and

FIGS. 7 and 8 are cross sectional views of a vertically movable platesupport element that is not rotated into position, but is insteadvertically lifted by pneumatic inflation of a continuously extendinginflatable tube positioned between the gooseneck beam and the platesupport element, with FIG. 7 showing the inflatable tube deflated toallow support of a reduced tunnel depth container, and FIG. 8 showingthe inflatable tube fully inflated to support a standard tunnel depthcontainer.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A container chassis 10 attachable to semi-tractor trailers for haulingcargo containers is illustrated in side view in FIG. 1. The containerchassis 10 is of conventional construction, and includes a forwardgooseneck 12 connectable by kingpin attachment 22 to a semi-tractortrailer (not shown), the gooseneck having laterally extending arms 14with couplers 16 to stably hold a cargo container (not shown). As bestillustrated in FIG. 2, the gooseneck 12 has a first and a secondgooseneck I-beams 24 and 25, the pair of I-beams being situated inspaced apart parallel relationship to each other. For illustrationpurposes, FIG. 2 is bifurcated by a dotted line, with opposite sidesexhibiting differing mechanisms for gooseneck beam height adjustment inaccordance with the present invention. In preferred embodiments, one orthe other of the height adjustment mechanisms would normally beemployed, not both as illustrated.

As illustrated in cross section in FIGS. 3 and 4, conventional gooseneckI-beams are not suitable for accommodating both standard tunnel depthand reduced tunnel depth containers. For example, in FIG. 3 the firstgooseneck I-beam 24 has an upper flange 26 and a lower flange 28 thatare respectively attached to support horizontal supports 19 for a lowerplate 20 of the gooseneck 12. The first gooseneck I-beam 24 verticallyspans a height 34 of about 37/8 inches, sufficient to support a reducedtunnel depth container bottom 30. The container bottom 30 has a reducedtunnel depth indicated by line 36, and is typically about 31/8 inchesdeep. However, when the first gooseneck I-beam 24 supports a standardtunnel depth container 30' (shown in phantom lines), the standard tunneldepth 35 of about 423/32 inches causes the bottom of the container toextend impermissibly low.

As shown in FIG. 4, use of greater height gooseneck I-beam 124 (withflanges 126 and 128) does not alleviate the problem of mismatchedheight. The gooseneck I-beam 124 vertically spans a height 37 of about 5inches, sufficient to support a standard tunnel depth container bottom30' (shown in phantom lines). The container bottom 30' has a standardtunnel depth indicated by line 38, typically about 423/32 inches deep.However, when the gooseneck I-beam 124 supports a reduced tunnel depthcontainer 30, the standard tunnel depth 39 of about 31/8 inches causesthe top of the container (not shown) to extend impermissibly high.

One way of correctly positioning a container is illustrated withreference to FIGS. 2, 5, and 6. An extendable height gooseneck assembly40 having an extender 42 mounted on a pivot 44 connected to the reducedheight gooseneck I-beam 24 is used to increase the effective height ofthe gooseneck I-beam 24. The extender 42 includes a lower plate 49integrally attached at an angle to a limb 48. The extender height isdetermined by an appropriately sized J-shaped bracket supporting a plate46 and attached to the lower plate 49. As best indicated in FIG. 6, theextender 42 can be rotated in the direction of arrow 45 from a positionin between the gooseneck I-beams to a position atop I-beam 24. Thiseffectively increases the height 34 (as indicated in FIG. 5) of thegooseneck I-beam to a height 38 (as shown in FIG. 6) of about 5 inches,positioning the plate 46 at a height suitable for supporting standardtunnel depth containers. The extended portion 43 of plate 46 effectivelyincreases the width 47 (as indicated in FIG. 5) of the gooseneck I-beamto a width suitable for supporting standard tunnel width containers.

As those skilled in the art will appreciate, several pivotable extenderscan be positioned along a gooseneck (such as illustrated in FIG. 2), oralternatively a single extender pivotably mounted at several positionscan be utilized. In addition, double hinges or other suitable attachmentmechanism are of course contemplated for the present invention. Movementof the extender 42 can be controlled manually or by suitable automaticmechanism as desired.

An alternative embodiment of the present invention that provides fordirect vertical movement of a plate 149 is illustrated in FIGS. 2, 7 and8. A pneumatic lift assembly 60 includes an inflatable pneumatic lifttube 61 that vertically moves extender 142 from a rest position such asshown in FIG. 7 to a raised position such as shown in FIG. 8. Theextender 142 is integrally constructed from stamped metal to have a footportion 152, leg portion 151, vertical body 150, and horizontal plate149 that are sequentially connected to each other. The underside of theplate 149 further includes a pair of attached spacers 62 having the lifttube 61 positioned in between. In the rest position with the lift tube61 deflated, the plate 149 of the extender 142 is supported by contact(by way of spacers 62) with a gooseneck I-beam 224. This provides aneffective height 34 of about 37/8 inches, suitable for supportingreduced tunnel depth containers.

As shown in FIG. 8, when the lift tube 61 is inflated to support theplate 149, by connection with pneumatic lines in the semi-tractortrailer or other conventional inflation mechanisms, the extender 142vertically moves upward to provide an effective height 38 of about 5inches, suitable for standard tunnel depth containers. Further movementupward of the extender 142 is prevented by contact between the legportion 151 and the I-beam 224. It will be appreciated by those skilledin the art that other conventional pneumatic or hydraulic liftmechanisms can be substituted for that illustrated, including hydrauliccylinders. In addition, purely mechanical ratchet, lever, or spacers canalso be used instead of pneumatic lift mechanisms if desired.

While the present invention has been described in connection withspecific embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the artthat various changes may be made therein without departing from thespirit or scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.

The claimed invention is:
 1. A chassis attachable to a fifth wheel of atractor for hauling a freight container, the chassis having a variableheight gooseneck assembly for accommodating a standard tunnel depthfreight container and a reduced tunnel depth freight container seatableon the chassis, the variable height gooseneck assembly comprisingagooseneck beam extending longitudinally in the direction of travel aplate vertically movable to a first position above the longitudinallyextending gooseneck beam to support a standard tunnel depth freightcontainer allowing the standard tunnel depth container to be hauled, anda plate support element connected to the plate and the longitudinallyextending gooseneck beam, the plate support element being hydraulicallyoperated to vertically move the plate to a second position that allowssupported positioning on the gooseneck assembly of a reduced tunneldepth container allowing the reduced tunnel depth container to behauled.
 2. The chassis of claim 1, wherein the hydraulically operatedplate support element further comprises a pneumatic drive mechanism forraising and lowering the plate.
 3. The chassis of claim 2, wherein thepneumatic drive mechanism further comprises an inflatable tubepositioned between the plate and the longitudinally extending gooseneckbeam, with the inflatable tube substantially deflated to bring the plateto its second position to support the reduced tunnel depth container andinflated to bring the plate to its first position to support thestandard tunnel depth container.
 4. A chassis attachable to a fifthwheel of a tractor for hauling a freight container, the chassis having avariable height gooseneck assembly for accommodating a standard tunneldepth freight container and a reduced tunnel depth freight containerseatable on the chassis, the variable height gooseneck assemblycomprising:a pair of gooseneck beams extending longitudinally in thedirection of travel plates vertically movable to a first position aboveeach of the longitudinally extending gooseneck beams to support astandard tunnel depth freight container allowing the standard tunneldepth container to be hauled, and plate support elements including apneumatic drive mechanism connected to the plates and the longitudinallyextending gooseneck beams for vertically moving the plates between thefirst position and a second position that allows supported positioningon the gooseneck assembly of a reduced tunnel depth container allowingthe reduced tunnel depth container to be hauled.
 5. The chassis of claim4, wherein the pneumatic drive mechanism further comprises inflatabletubes positioned between the plates and the longitudinally extendinggooseneck beams, with the inflatable tubes substantially deflated tobring the plate to their second position to support the reduced tunneldepth container and inflated to bring the plates to their first positionto support the standard tunnel depth container.